Window cleaner



May 13, 1930. c. J. THATCHER WINDOW CLEANER Filed July 22, 1927 PatentedMay 13, 1930 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES J. THATCHER, OF NEW'YORK, N. Y.

WINDOW CLEANER Application filed July 22,

The invention relates to magnetically controlled window-cleanerapparatus, more especially of the electro-magnetic type, embodying amanually-movable, magnet mem- 5 her and a .follower, the two beingadapted to operate over opposite faces of a window, or other glass orsimilar surfaces, and at least one of said members carrying a cleaningele ment.

' In an apparatus of this character, the fol lower member automaticallyfollows the movement of the manually operable member, which iscontrolled preferably from the inner side of the window.

The present invention has for its object to provide a magnetic cleaningdevice sufiiciently powerful and frictionless to dispense with the useof any special supporting means for the follower, and, ifelectromagnetic, so constructed and arranged, furthermore, that it willnot become overheated by the current. A further object of the inventionresides in a novel form of cleaning element which may be associatedtherewith, and which will not only efiect a cleaning by one operation ifdesired, but will also enhance the cooling effect so that themagnetizable member will remain sufficiently cool during the operationof cleaning windows.

To this end, the invention comprises a novel construction not only ofthe magnetized memher but also of the follower member and its cleaningpad, whereby the friction-is reduced to the minimum necessary for usefuloperation. In this device, also, the electromagnet member may bethermally connected to a cleaning element so as to afford a relativelylarge and cooled radiating surface to assist in maintaining the saidmagnetized member at a not objectionably high temperature.

The nature of the invention, however, will best be understood whendescribed in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end view, in part section, of the novel window cleanershown in near approach to a pane of glass to be cleaned and with themagnetizing current oil", the magnet and follower not being in contactwith the glass as in actual operation.

1927. Serial No. 207,630.

Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the elements indicated inFig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents a section of glass, such as awindow pane, which it is desired to clean by means of the novel cleanerhereinafter more fully set forth, said cleaner comprising a magnet to beused preferably upon the inner side of the glass 10 and a further memberof material adapted to be attracted magnetically and located preferablyon the outer side of the windowboth being preferably connected by somesuitable means as a cable or cord 11 in order to prevent the followermember from dropping to the ground accidentally or when the latter isnot magnetized. The cord 11 may also, of course, be attached to a book(not shown) in or near the window frame, if desired.

The magnetic member may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnetconstructed for use with either direct or alternating current, andpreferably the latter as in the embodiment herein described. The saidmember, to this end, comprises a pair of magnetizing coils 15 whichsurround laminated cores connected across the top by the laminated bar16 which may also serve as a handle. About the latter, however, ispreferably placed a member 17 of suitable insulating material such asbakelit'e or wood, the under face of which may be arranged to carry acontact member 18 whereby the power circuit to the coils 15 may beclosed when the handle is grasped, power being supplied thereto throughconductors 19 from a suitable source (not shown). V

To the said coils, or to their pole pieces 20 or to the follower polepieces 21, or to all, is adapted to be secured, so as to promote thermalconduction, shallow supportsor pans 22 and 23 of metal, for example,aluminum, and in which pans cleaning material is to be held. Forsecuring the said pan to the magnet or follower member, as well as toaccommodate the respective pole pieces 20 or 21 which projecttherethrough, the bottom of the pan may be pierced at two pointsopposite the said ole pieces to provide corresponding openings for theinsertion of said pieces; and ears or tabs 24 and 25 may be I a trace ofsoap. This pad is mounted in the to afford securing walls upon oppositesides tain a cleaning material which may be in of the pole piece, beingrigidly attached thereto as by means of securing screws 26 and 27Furthermore, a longitudinal slit 28 and 29 may be provided in the bottomof the pan 22 and 23 between the pole pieces 20 or 21 to eliminatepossible eddy currents in the pan when alternating current is used.

As stated,-t-he said pan is designed to rethe nature of a pad 30 such asa pelt of lambs wool, felt, or, preferably, rubber sponge which has verylittle friction on glass when wet, particularly with water containingeven pan to project a substantial distance above its edge and issurrounded at its marginal portions with upstanding strips of rubber 31to act as a squeegee to dry the glass by following the said pad, whichlatter is intended for use in moistened condition. The edge of saidsqueegee member is located preferably substantially flush with orslightly below the pad surface; but the outer faces of the pole ieces 20or 21 are located some distance beow the said surface of the pad.

I have found that an appreciable friction.

may develop between the metallic pole pieces and a glass of a windowpane or the like over which the pad is caused to travel. To further.reduce the friction, particularly in the follower member, there may beprovided a plurality of buffer members 32'which are secured to thebottom of the pan and project upwardly a slight distance, say a few'thousandths of an inch, above the plane'ofthe pole faces. These buffersare spaced, for example, upon opposite sides of the pole pieces toprevent wobbling of the device, and may be faced with or composed ofrubber or other material which, when wet, will .exert a minimumfriction. lhey are adjusted so as to contact with the glass prior to anypossible contact of the pole faces therewith; and if necessary to reducethe friction to a minimum, roller or ball-bearing casters may besubstituted for the contacting end. The friction is thereby reduced to aminimum, being substantially only that of the cleaning pad and thesqueegee members surrounding the same, all of which, when wet, exert butvery slight frictional resistance thereon. If such or equivalent meansto reduce friction are not used, the magnet required may be very heavyand cumbersome; and or when operating on very thin glass, the morepowerful magnetic attraction thus exerted may unduly compress thecleaning pad material and cause excessive friction.

Said squeegee members may be secured to the pan in any convenientmanner; and, by way of example, the same are herein shown as positionedin separate channel members for the four sides of the pan, being held bysqueezing the inner edge of the squeegee rubber in the channel members,which are then attached to the Walls of the pan, as by riveting the samethereto. The pad itself may be variously shaped, but is herein indicatedas of rectangular form. Similarly, the follower member will havesubstantially thev same shape and is also similarly constructed. Of

to prevent contact of the pole pieces 21 with the outer face of theglass, the reduction of friction to a minimum'being of more importancein the follower. The bar portion 35 of the follower, moreover, affords aconvenient member for manipulating the pad, which may be'used forcleaning independently of the magnetized member, if desired.

The cleaner hereinbefore described may be utiliz'ed'without any supportfor the follower member other than the magnetic pull exerted thereon bythe magnetized member which controls the movement of the said followerover the opposing surfaces of the glass to be cleaned; and if bothmembers are -provided with pads, as herein disclosed, both faces of theglass may simultaneously be cleaned as the magnetized member is manuallymoved over the said glass-one passage .over the glass suflicing tobothclean and dry both sides of the window."

In applyingthe novel cleaning apparahis to a lower window, the latter isfirst elevated somewhat to allow of bringing the follower, say, to oneof the lower corners of the outer face, whereupon the magnetized memberis brought into juxtaposition and raised to an upper corner, after thewindow has been closed, and then swept across, back and forth atdifferent heights until the final lower corner is reached, the squeegeeportion following the cleaning pad 'in every move ment to dry thecleansed portion. Thenupon, the window is opened, and the magnetizedmember is withdrawn as well. as the follower, freed thereby; and thesqueegee portion of the same is manually drawn over the corner tocomplete the drying.

In certain cases it is desirable to elevate the lower window and firstplace the magnet and the follower with their cleaning pads injuxtaposition near an upper corner, and thereupon sweep the cleaningdevice across the upper margin of the window to clean the same, thewindow remaining partly elevated meanwhile. Thereupon the follower andmagnet are removed from the upper portion and placed in a lower cornerand the cleaned by bringing it to the lower portion of v the windowframe and elevating the lower pane to the upper portion of the frame,pref erably after the upper margin of the upper window has been firstcleaned by a passage of the cleaning device. The upper pane may also becleaned by lowering it somewhat and placing the magnet and follower injuxtaposition at an upper corner and then proceeding as beforedescribed.

It will be understood that other forms of magnets, such as directcurrent magnets or permanent magnets may be used instead of thelaminated core, alternating current magnet specifically describedherein; and that in the case of direct current magnets. the laminationof the core may be dispensed with: and, in the case of permanentmagnets, the heatreducing or cooling device becomes unneces-' sary.Electromagnets of the straight-bar type, that is, with a coil or coilsplaced on a straight bar and bare pole pieces extending into thecleaning pad. or other types may be used; and other changes may be madein the device without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Also. while the cleaning device has bee-n shown as composed of a centralpad 30 and a squeegee member 31, it will be understood that the cleaningand drving operations may be effected separately using these membersalone.

I claim:

1. A magnetically controlled window cleaner. comprising a magnet and acooperating follower adapted to operate over the opposite faces of thewindow. and a squeegee member carried by one of the cooperating magneticmembers.

2. A magnetically controlled window cleaner. comprising a magnet and acooperating follower adapted to operate over the opposite faces of thewindow, and a cleaning member comprising a pad and a squeegee membercarried by one of the cooperating magnetic members.

3. A magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and afollower adapted to operate over the opposite faces of the window, acleaning member carried by one of the said cooperating magnetic memberscomprising a metallic support. the cleaning member and the support beingpierced to receive the poles of its magnetized member.

4. A magnetically controlled window clean-.

er, comprisinga magnet and a follower ada ted to operate over theopposite faces of .t 6 window and one of which carries a cleaning membercomprising a metallic support thermally connected with-the magnetizedmember, a washing and cleaning pad thereon, channel members secured tothe sides of saidsupport, and strips of rubber held in the bottom ofsaid channels and extending above the edges of the pan.

5. A magnetically'controlled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and afollower adapt- .ed to operate over the opposite faces of the window, acleaning member carried by the follower, and friction-reducing meansassociated with said cleaning member.

6. A magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising an electromagnetand a follower adapted to operate over opposite faces of the window, acleaning member carried by the follower and embodying a support, a padheld thereon adapted to bemoistened and a squeegee member secured to thesupport along a margin of the pad, the bottom of the support beingpierced to receive the pole pieces of the electromagnet, and buffermembers having relatively frictionless contact surfaces and extendingupwardly from the bottom of said support above the plane of the polefaces of the follower. v f

magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising an electromagnet anda follower adapted to operate over opposite faces of the wind-ow, acleaning member carried by the follower and embodying a support, a padheld therein adapted to be moistened and a squeegee member secured tothe support along a margin of the pad, the bottom of the support beingpierced to receive the pole pieces of the electromagnet, and buffermembers having relatively frictionless contact surfaces and extending uwardly from the bottom of said support a ove the plane of the pole facesof the follower and spaced upon opposite sides thereof.

8. A. magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and acooperating follower adapted to operate over opposite faces of a window,and a cleaning member comprising a rubber sponge pad.

9. A magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and acooperating follower adapted to operate over opposite faces of a window,and a cleaning member comprising a rubber sponge pad, and a squeegeeomember along a margin thereof.

10. A magnetically controlled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and acooperating follower adapted to operate over opposite faces of a window,and a cleaning member provided with buffer members to adjust thedistance of the pole pieces of the follower from the window.

11. A cleanin member, comprising a support, a, pad held thereon andadapted to be moistened, and bufler members having relativelfrictionless contact surfaces and extendlng upwardly from the bottom ofsaid support to a plane below the face of the pad.

12. In a magnetically controlled window cleaner, the combination of amagnet having pole pieces and a separating yoke'adapted to e used as ahandle, and a cleaning follower with similarly spaced pole pieces andadaptgd to operate over the opposite face of a wm- 13. A magneticallycontrolled window cleaner, comprising a magnet and a follower adapted tooperate over the opposite faces of a window and having pole pieces, acleaning member penetrated by the said pole pieces of the follower, andmeans to prevent contact of said pole pieces with the surface of thewindow.

In testimonIyIXher-eof I afiix my signature.

Y C RLES J. THATCHER.

